No Ordinary Love - A Gary Barlow FF

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It was 30th December and the Christmas holiday was flying by, Sandy had cleaned her apartment from top to bottom, had a shower and was sitting on the couch with a well deserved glass of red wine. The door bell rang, she was not expecting anyone. She opened the door and to her surprise there stood Gary with 2 bottles of wine, and a Chinese Takeaway "I couldn't wait till tomorrow, you don't mind do you" he smiled "of course not, come in" Sandy was over the moon, her heart beating so loudly she thought he could hear it as he came through the open door and give her a hug.

After he had looked around her small but perfectly formed apartment, they ate their food and sat together all cuddled up on the couch, chatting and laughing. Gary took hold of both her hands and looked at her silently. "Gary what's wrong?" "Well" Gary started "I may have come around here with a little bit of bad news" Sandy's heart sank, she new it was too good to be true, how could a man like this be happy with her. He could see she was worried, he leaned over and kissed her so softly on her waiting lips as his hands moved to hold her close. "It's not what your thinking" he reassured her. She smiled sweetly at him " My Agent contacted me this morning to say that a National Tabloid is going to run a story about us on New Years Day, apparently they have pictures of us in New York, I haven't seen them but the story is to be run as if I am cheating on Anna" He held on tight to Sandy as he explained. "Oh my God!" whispered Sandy, covering her mouth with her hand "we have done nothing wrong" "I know, I know, we haven't, but they don't know that" he continued "I have spoken to Anna and we both agreed that we will release a joint statement tomorrow to tell everyone that we have been living apart for years, that should sort it and when the newspaper releases their story on New Years Day, it won't be a cheating story, it will be a 'Gary finds new girl' story" "Oh!" said Sandy sounding a bit worried and apprehensive "let me get my head around this" she continued "I don't want you to think that you have been forced into making this statement I really like you Gary but I wouldn't want to get in the way of your time with Libby or you career, if it works for you now how people think you live, we could think of another way around this" he grabbed hold of her tighter and kissed her head " you are so lovely Sandy, this is how I want it to be even if it's a little sooner than I thought, telling the world that I am with you would be an honour" she pulled away and looked up at him and smiled "if you are trying to get me into bed Mr Barlow, keep talking" They both started laughing as he lifted her up into his strong arms and carried her into the bedroom.

Sandy woke quite early, she was not used to having someone share her bed for the whole night, and she was defiantly not complaining, she looked to the side of her to see Gary lying facing her on his stomach, the sheet resting roughly on his waist and his arms neatly tucked under the pillow his beautiful green eyes closed. She smiled to her self. "Wow" she said quietly. Her phone buzzing startled her.

Text from Ali: OMFG.. Have you seen the news. Put the telly on NOW. Here if you need me as always xxx

Sandy read the text and her stomach did a cartwheel, she reached for her iPad careful not to wake Gary. The headlines read:

Gary Barlow and Wife of 10 years call it a day.

Sandy felt sick, "this is real now, this is the world that he lives in" she muttered as she carried on reading.

Take That frontman and former X Factor Judge Gary Barlow and his wife of 10 years have released a joint statement this morning saying that they have separated. The statement also states that they have been living apart for some years and are still the best of friends and full time parents to their 5 year old daughter. Both would like to ask if everyone could respect their privacy at this time.

She text Ali back.

Text to Ali: Ali I am fine. Will explain when I see you. Love you xxx

Sandy turned to Gary and just looked at him knowing that she would have to wake him up. She kissed his greying stubble, his eyes flickered open, "Mornin you" he said with a sleepy voice and a beautiful smile. "Good morning" Sandy replied. He reached over to her and pulled her close. "I will have to stay over more often, I had a great nights sleep" "well Mr Barlow" Sandy laughed "you can stay anytime you like, but to be honest from my point of view I don't think very much sleep was had by either of us last night" he gave her a crooked smile and pushed his lips on to hers.

Gary had arranged for the statement to be released over night and also to be tweeted to his followers just before general release, As in Gary's words "They are my fans and they deserve to be told first".

Over breakfast Gary seemed his normal self although he apologised to Sandy about the never ending stream of phone calls, texts and e-mails he was receiving. Sandy assured him it was fine and took the opportunity to ring Ali as he took another call. Sandy explained it all to Ali without taking a breath. Both sides of the call went quiet, Ali broke the silence "Oh fuck" "this is really happening, you will have reporters at your apartment, your phone may get tapped and they will go through your bins to get some dirt on you" "Ali, Ali calm down" Sandy laughed "He is not a Spy you know, apart from being in the band..." Sandy stopped what she was saying realising that Ali could be right or partly right "oh my god Ali, I will have to go, will ring you later" she put down the phone.

Gary was still on the phone, Sandy sat on the couch with her cup of tea and waited till he was finished. He came over and sat down. "What's wrong" he asked "will they try and dig up dirt on me, tap my phone and hang around outside my door or even work, once the pictures come out tomorrow?" She answered looking very worried. Gary took hold of her as reassurance and lent down and kissed her on the forehead, he took a little bit of time before he answered. " I am not going to lie to you Sandy, my answer is possibly" Sandy closed her eyes and buried her face into his chest, " I don't know if I can handle it" she replied in a whisper. He held her so tight, trying to show her how much he can protect her. " I will be with you every step of the way, that is just the worse case scenario. I am sure it won't be as bad as that. But what I can guarantee is all my loyal fans are going to love you" he smiled trying to cheer her up. " let's just take one day at a time" he added "and today is New Years Eve and we are going to Howard and Katie's for a party, so let's forget about all this for now and have a great evening" she smiled at him and he kissed her so softly on the lips, her heart melted. He was amazing and the best thing that had happened to her, she needed to man up, it might not be as bad as she thought.